Should pleadings lodged before the European Court of Justice be accessible to the public? Here goes a reasonable answer to such query: «Requests from members of the public for access to written pleadings submitted by the parties to a case while the...

What is fair balancing? Is it a true methodology or a mere catchphrase? Does the Luxembourg judge rely on this technique? Is it worth it? And does the binding EUCFR also change something? In recent years, the ECJ case law has been marked by an inc...

The Bulgarian Elchinov-case (Case C-173/09) raises some interesting questions about the possibility for a lower national court to set aside a national court ruling in last instance’s interpretation of EU law. But first a quick look at the facts of...

The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice has delivered an interesting case on 23 November 2010. It has to do with the interpretation of Directive 2004/38 and more particularly the scope of “public security” (see also the Opinion of Bot in the...

Another judgment on the Lisbon Treaty was handed down today. After its Czech (x2), French, German and Latvian counterparts it was the turn of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal to deal with the new Treaty. It gave the thumbs up to the Treaty of Li...

Historically, the Court of Justice on 5 October in an urgent preliminary ruling procedure gives us an interpretation of certain horizontal provisions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, i.e. Article 51 and 52 EUCFR. In McB, the national court es...

On 30 September 2010, Advocate General Sharpston delivered her Opinion in the awaited Case C-34/09 Ruiz Zambrano. In a nutshell, this reference from the Tribunal du travail de Bruxelles deals with the scope of the right of residence for third country...

The German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) published its long awaited decision in the highly controversial Honeywell case last Thursday. The stakes were high, as the case concerned nothing less than the question whether the Court of Justice we...

The German Federal Constitutional Court has delivered its awaited decision on 26 August 2010 in the Honeywell case. The ruling not only clarified the position of the FCC towards the controversial Mangold case but also shed some interesting lights o...

On 7 July 2010, the official talks have started on the European Union’s accession to the European Convention of Human Rights between the Commission and the Steering Committee for Human Rights. Already on 26 May 2010, the Committee of Ministers...

The EU Law Blog has an interesting post on the Committee recently established by Article 255 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. This Committee is in charge of scrutinizing the candidates proposed by Member States to fill the position of Judg...

The ECJ has handed its judgment in the Melki case today, although only in French for the time being. The judgment can be accessed here. In general terms, the ECJ rules out the Cour de Cassation’s interpretation of the “priority question o...

This question might raise eyebrows, I know. You might react in disbelief. ECJ, pluralist? It makes little sense. After all, pluralism itself is only a passing fad, and the ECJ – the ultimate guardian of the supranational fortress – has been anyth...

It is common knowledge that the national courts are key actors when it comes to application and enforcement of EU law. The same holds true in the Strasbourg system which is founded on the principle of subsidiarity - an overarching principle recent...

It appears that the Council’s mandate to the Commission concerning the EU’s accession to the European Convention of Human Rights will very soon be agreed. Many interesting issues lie ahead, and they are all of the utmost importance for EU...

EMC Development AB v Commission: Standardisation under EU Competition Law On 12 May 2010, the General Court (GC) delivered its judgment in Case T-432/05 EMC Development AB v. Commission. This judgment relates to a review of the legality of the Commis...

The accession to ECHR may put an end to the logic of ‘presumption of equivalence’ and ‘manifest deficiency’ coined by the Bosphorus case (Decision of 13 September 2001 Application No 45036/98 Bosphorus Hava Yollari Turizm AS v. Ireland). T...

On 6 May 2010, an extraordinary appeal has been lodged before the Supreme Court (Högsta Domstolen) against the judgment of the Labour Court (Arbetsdomstolen) of December 2009 by the Swedish trade unions. It is argued inter alia that the Labour Court...

Following the invitation of the Editors of adjudicatingeurope.eu, I am delighted to introduce you to the recently launched European Journal of Risk Regulation. This new academic referred journal reflects the growing importance of both national and Eu...

Yesterday, May 12, the Conseil Constitutionnel has put an end to the Cour de Cassation’s reference, which was starting to become a considerable headache for many. You can read the judgment here. The Conseil has confirmed that the Cour de Cassat...